[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 24 (Tuesday, March 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            PROSECUTING WAR CRIMES REQUIRES U.S. LEADERSHIP

 Mr. DeCONCINI. Mr. President, developments over the past few 
weeks have given me some cause to believe that the long-overdue effort 
to hold war criminals from the former Yugoslavia personally accountable 
are finally beginning to take shape. In particular, the judges of the 
U.N. International Criminal Tribunal have now hammered out their draft 
rules of evidence and procedure and an acting deputy prosecutor has 
been named with the authority to proceed with investigations, 
indictments, and trials.
  Most significant, however, are reports from Germany and Denmark that 
the Governments of those two countries have each separately arrested a 
suspect from the former Yugoslavia. In Germany, authorities have taken 
into custody a Bosnian Serb, Dusan ``Dusko'' Tadic, whom they plan to 
try for acts of genocide in the on-going war. In Demark, similar action 
has been initiated against a Bosnian Moslem accused of atrocities 
against Croats. Both suspects gained entry to those countries posing as 
refugees.
  For the time being, both countries plan to proceed with trials under 
their national legislation against these two suspects. There are, 
however, provisions in the U.N. statute for the International Criminal 
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia that would permit these cases to be 
transferred to that forum.
  Mr. President, I raise these cases here because I believe they should 
give pause to us all regarding the obligations of the United States 
with respect to the International Criminal Tribunal. As it now stands, 
today, if an alleged criminal from the former Yugoslavia were to gain 
entry to the United States, we would have the legal grounds neither to 
try that person here for heinous acts nor to surrender him or her to 
The Hague for trial. Lest anyone think that the possibility of war 
criminals coming to the United States is too remote, we need only 
recall that this is exactly what happened when Radovan Karadic--a man 
named by Secretary of State Eagleburger as a war criminal--came to New 
York in 1993.
  I understand that the Department of State has been working on a draft 
implementing legislation to enable the United States to fulfill our 
obligations with respect to the U.N. Tribunal. More to the point, the 
prompt passage of implementing legislation will enable the United 
States to play a much needed leadership role with respect to other 
countries which are more likely, in fact, to gain custody of war 
criminals. If the United States fails to become engaged and fails to 
play a strong and active leadership role, the prospects for 
accountability will diminish accordingly. We must not let that 
happen.

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